The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum

mogogear · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:52 pm Post subject:

Nice progress in discovering your next puzzle

A tracing of the outer hull curve will give you a template to bend the saloon wall to. Perhaps curving just a little past what is needed should get you home.

A tea kettle can be useful for a small steam source. The bench top inside the saloon can just be sanded to match the curve once you are done.

I am sure you will do wonderfully!!

Keep it up Pete!! Chin up and all that

_________________
Lagniappe readily offered and accepted,

Mo (greg)

His Most Noble Lord Admiral Mo, the Apocalyptic of Old Tonbridge Wafers

http://gerddi.blogspot.com/

Bill L. · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:48 am Post subject:

Hi.I would leave the side straight a make a filler piece for the gap.you will compound your problem if your are going to add molding to the window frames.This is how thay did it on the full size boats.If you do curve the bottom you might want to curve the top to.The eye will follow the line.
Bill L.

RocDoc · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:41 am Post subject:

Thanks Greg and Bill for your comments.

I agree ... bending the sides could compound the problem especially when fitting the windows into the cabin frame.

I think I'm leaning towards filling the gap with a piece of ply. The deck will be planked over anyway thus hiding any minor gaps.

Cheers

Pete

mogogear · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 3:51 pm Post subject:

Good man Bill--I focused on problem solving when in fact there was not problem to solve - just masking the gap ....good call Thumbs up!

_________________
Lagniappe readily offered and accepted,

Mo (greg)

His Most Noble Lord Admiral Mo, the Apocalyptic of Old Tonbridge Wafers

http://gerddi.blogspot.com/

RocDoc · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:18 pm Post subject:

Oh dear ... you ain't going to like me guys ...

I've gone and bent the sides to fit rather then going for the filler option. To be honest, I did try the filer option but for some reason it didn't seem to work.

So .... out came a large bowl with some hot water and both sides spent a good 10 minutes enjoying a hot tub soaking of sorts. Then they were carefully bent to shape, fitted back in the hull and clamped in position and left to dry.

They look good and fit much neater in the deck. I'll worry about the windows later ... says he with his fingers and toes crossed.

Cheers

Pete

Bill L. · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:32 am Post subject:

Oh my--why wouuld you think that

? This is your boat and you must build it the way think best.I have seen your past work so I know it will turn out great.

shally45 · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:24 am Post subject:

Pete,
I have had the same problems in the past with cabins and I may have a way of doing a quick fix:

If you use window framing from a doll house supplier you can get many shapes and sizes and really look the part, just run the strip around the cabin where it meets the deck, if the cabin is glued in place just glue the strip in place but if the cabin can be removed just glue the strip to the deck it will also acted as combing.

Here is website that has many types of skritings you may find one to help if you go this way ?????

http://www.dollshouse.com/dhe/dolls-house-mouldings.aspx

Hope this may help ????

RocDoc · Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:47 pm Post subject:

Goodness ... it's been almost 3 months since I last posted on this thread. Bet you are all wondering what I've been doing ... simple answer ... not a lot, and getting very frustrated in the process.

One job was to check that the RC arm for the rudder would work properly. And guess what ... it didn't because there was a bulk head in the way. The photos below show the bulkhead blocking the arm.

So, out came the Dremmel again and the offending bulkhead was removed.

Having fixed the bulkhead, I decided to replace the original wooden servo supports as they were just rubbish. It was a case of buying a new metal servo support with proper screw holes. At least now I can fix the servo to the hull.

The frustration continues ...

Pete

airspyder · Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 10:09 pm Post subject:

Silly place for a bulkhead anyway

I'm glad to see progress on the Alexandra, I've been thinking about building something along these lines myself so I've been watching your thread for pointers.

Cheers,
Bill

hellequin · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:57 am Post subject:

Looking good keep at it we all have those getting every thing into position problems

just hit the same snag with my build

at least you can swear at the kit makers

I only have myself to blame
Good luck just slowly eat the elephant

Les · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:00 am Post subject:

Each small step completed is a step in the right direction.

_________________
Les - Don't panic - it's your round next.

http://www.bucketofsteam.co.uk/

RocDoc · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:03 pm Post subject:

The lads and lasses down in 't shipyard have achieved a big milestone today ... they have tested the new engine 'plumbing' for the first time on air (thanks to Moosemans quiet compressor) ... and it all seems to work ... hurrah.

Pipework ... plumbing ... what's that then? Well, to cut a long story short, the pipework, plumbing has been bugging me for the past month or so. When I first received the engine, the layout wasn't compact enough for the Alexandra, so a major re-organisation of the pipes was required. This involved a lot of pipe bending ... and a lot of 'blue words' from the workers.

Who would have thought bending copper pipes would be so flipping tricky and frustrating. But we got there in the end. Here are some photos of the new engine layout.

This photo shows the layout and also the pipe bending tool that I used. Also shown is a small bit of coiled up Bowden cable. I picked up this tip from the internet. When bending pipes, thread a piece of Bowden cable inside the pipe to stop it kinking. As my copper pipes were 5/32" diam, I could get away with 2mm diameter Bowden cable which I got off Ebay.

Two more tips ... first ... anneal the copper pipe. Heat until dull cherry read and then leave for a while. Second ... when bending using the tool, bend very, very ... VERY slowly ... the slower the better. I got a bit impatient once and went a bit too fast and the pipe kinked, even with the Bowden cable inside.

Close up of the lubricator and engine pipe work. Yes, there is a block of wood under the throttle. That will be replaced with a brass 'stand' in due course.

Final photo is the feed from the boiler. Another tip I got off the web was the comment that steam pipes on launches tended to be either vertical or horizontal in layout. No diagonal pipes. I tried to follow this as much as possible in my layout.

Oh ... almost forgot ... all the pipes nipples are silver soldered!!!!!!! Now that was interesting ... first real attempt at silver soldering.

Top tips ...

i) for silver soldering, get yourself a brazing block or hearth. I got one off Ebay for less than £10 and it is certainly worth having one.
ii) when heating the work, make sure you have a full gas tank! I was trying to heat a part and just couldn't get it hot enough no matter how open I had the switch. A new gas tank later ... woosh, job done.
iii) make fresh flux every time you are working on a new part.
iv) this tip ... well ... I was a bit unsure whether to use a pickle bath to clean the parts afterwards. I read that the Kilrock de-scaler solution would work as a cleaning solution ... and do you know, it certainly does!!! Leave the soldered bits in the solution for about an 1/2 to 3/4 hour and hey presto, they come out all nice, almost clean and almost shiny.

It's been a very eventful past few weeks doing the engine plumbing.

I plan to lag the pipes with white string soon ... you can tell that I'm on a roll.

Pete

mogogear · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:38 pm Post subject:

Ahhh Pete--it all looks fantastic!! Good for you and the tone of your words seem proud!!

Huzzah!!

_________________
Lagniappe readily offered and accepted,

Mo (greg)

His Most Noble Lord Admiral Mo, the Apocalyptic of Old Tonbridge Wafers

http://gerddi.blogspot.com/

RocDoc · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:49 pm Post subject:

Thanks Greg. I did go through a bit of a bad patch a while ago. Too many failures .... too much frustration and no sign of any progress. TBH, was getting me down big time.

But then my luck changed and I'm making progress, albeit slowly. There is still a lot to do and a lot of problems to over come.

As Steven Hawking said recently ... Never Give Up.

Pete

mogogear · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:36 pm Post subject:

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